Time and Time Again
by SilentSniper
Summary: The world had demanded justice for all the crimes he had committed against it. He was forced to repeat his life, bit by bit, until he understood what he had done was not justified. One-sided Demando/Neo-Queen Serenity and Demando/Usagi


Disclaimer: Sailor Moon does not belong to me.

* * *

He was reborn with some of his memories; memories of insanity and insatiable drive. He was reborn again into his body, born again to his parents and world. It was such rich justice. The world had demanded justice for all the crimes he had committed against it.

Memories hounded him in his sleep. Dreams of a woman he had come to knew so well; dreams of an invasion; dreams of death; dreams of hope.

"_Brother, that planet is already yours…"_

"_Have you met…my darling Rabbit?" _

"_You desire the beautiful ruler who sleeps in the palace..." _

"_Prince, I will follow you without hesitation…"_

"_In any form…"_

He woke up. The blankets kicked off during the night. He bit back a bubbling cry.

He had just turned _thirteen_ last summer. He wasn't a grown-up. The dreams _scared _him. He buried his face in his hands. Before turning thirteen, his life had been great. He had been just another happy kid among other happy kids, but now he was a kid with memories of other life. He shivered. It scared him, but despite all of these memories, he knew only half-truths; shadows of the past. He would not know if he took the right step in the wrong direction.

"Demando? What's wrong?"

He flinched. He saw his brother's death; his brother melting away into nothing. He rubbed his eyes. He was there for his brother's birth and he might be there for his brother's death someday.

"Nothing, Saphir. Just a nightmare."

His brother grinned from ear to ear. "Do you need a nightlight?"

He ignored Saphir as he fluffed up his pillow. "I'm not scared." He drew his blankets closer to him, thankful for their warmth. "Not at all."

Saphir hummed while he settled back into bed. "Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion are going to be married in three weeks. Mama says we have to look our best because they're royalty."

He crushed the pillow against his ear, not wanting to hear about an old familiar princess. His brother's comment had been too random and possibly too innocent. "Go to sleep, Saphir."

He could feel his brother's too-old eyes on him. Gritting his teeth, he buried himself deeper into his blankets.

"You're upset, aren't you?"

"You're too nosy."

"But you're upset."

"Go to sleep."

"You'll tell me someday, won't you?"

* * *

His mother made him wear a tuxedo. He tugged on his collar. Ugh, itchy. Saphir thought the same thing apparently because he kept shifting in his penny loafers, but he was only six. It was okay for him. Their mom was the only one who was the picture of calm and handsomeness.

"Do we have to be here?"

His mother glared at him. He straightened his posture as he tried to look his best. The trumpets sounded, the flowers showered and the crowd cheered. Finally, after so many dreams and nightmares, he saw what he had longed to see ever since he remembered.

The woman came into his life when he was nine years old, but he only knew her face before, but now he knew her scent, her tears, her courage, her kindness and her fears. His last memories of her were of her as the legendary Sailor Moon.

She was a little taller; older face full of grace. Her hair was longer, but still a flyaway blonde. The golden sigil glowed proudly; a brief image of its opposite surfaced in his head. She was stronger and more confidant then ever before. She held herself like a queen and a queen she shall be.

He shifted his gaze.

The man beside her had changed as well. His face was serene; happy even. He was laughing for real. There were no masks or lies. A man made whole. He lowered his eyes before he become blind. Sadness, too great for a thirteen-year old, overtook him; happiness was always out of his reach.

His eyes became cold, cold like Nemesis. The Prince Demando of old reared his ugly head. These people did_ not_ deserve to be happy. They _murdered_ his brother and his cousins; his people; his dreams. They were a blasphemy against God. They deserved justice, justice given to them by a prince.

By Prince Demando; _stop them, stop their invasion, save the world. _

She was laughing; her wedding gown billowing in the wind. Her hair tangled in her veil. Endymion was holding his bride close and laughing like no tomorrow. They looked _so _happy. His heart hammered in his chest. So happy, so _utterly _happy; their laughter was contagious. Everybody was laughing.

He sighed, his eyes lost their coldness. He was just a boy from a nice family. He glanced at his little brother whose eyes were bright and smart. He glanced to his far left; his cousins fighting with each other like always. He glanced up. His parents were happy and so in love with each other.

He loved her. He will always love her, but as much as his old memories hated to admit it, she was married to a great man. Endymion will make her happy. Those nightmares gave him a warning. If he became a bitter prince, she would be unhappy. His nation and his cause would fall second to her; they would be unhappy.

He would be a bad leader. She would be unhappy. Nobody would win.

They were to become rulers as soon as the sun rose. She was smiling brightly, anticipating sunrise. He smiled even brighter. Flowers fell from her hair as she kissed her new husband. He smiled so wide that his face hurt.

The sun rose. Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion were surrounded by light; people swore it came straight from their hearts. Everybody held their breaths as the lights dimmed. The woman who used to a princess was now a queen with silver hair and wings and a crown adorning her beauty. The man who used to be prince was now a king; black hair and blue eyes still there, but his clothes were like a lavender sunset.

Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion stood tall, their eyes on their new subjects. She smiled happily at her people, with her all-powerful scepter in her white hand.

She never looked his way, but she had no reason to. Serenity had a kingdom to run; a daughter to nurture; a husband to love.

"Brother?"

He smiled at Saphir. "What?"

"What are you smiling at?"

She was talking to the people. He listened to her every word.

"At the sun."

Saphir beamed at him. "You want it as a nightlight?"

He shook his head. He was no longer afraid; he always wanted to make her happy. It seemed that destiny, by punishing him, had given him the greatest gift of all. He was giving up on her. It was a promise.

* * *

He had failed. The 30th Century had been at his feet. The people's bodies had been lying on the streets, in houses and in ditches; rotting away. The city became a ghost town; destroyed with a flick of his wrist. On his command and it had felt so justified.

When he first saw a woman running frantically, he had dismissed her. He thought her be a crazed survivor, but her gown had been so fine and so godlike; it had tugged at his memory. Intrigued, he had followed her. She did not fall to her feet when he confronted her. She had faced him with a determined face.

He had forgotten all about her; her features fading from his mind as he went through college years and then becoming Prince of Nemesis years later. It was her; the woman with the long hair and soft skin. He had held her in his arms once upon a time. He had marveled at her beauty for a while, content just to float there. The symbol of his oppressors had winked at him from upon her forehead. She was Serenity, Queen of Earth. How could he have ever forgotten his bitterness and almost-hate?

She had glared at him, like he was not even human. It had sickened him. He was human, a better human than her. He had lost all sense of goodwill in that lapse of restraint. He remembered wanting to hurt her, but thankfully the senshi had interfered before his attack had reached her. Horrified, he had watched as she disappeared into the Crystal Palace; once again, out of his reach.

He had remembered his promise to her. He had failed her. The deed was done. He had to move forward, for the sake of his tired people and its rights. Maybe she would forgive his trespasses when he told of how their children suffered; of how they failed to fall in love; of how they died in squander.

She would. She had to. She was the Messiah of all people and Nemesis' people had been her people once upon a time.

He had continued in that line of thought. He knew she was sleeping inside the Crystal Palace; her skin pale and her wings flattened, but safe. He had trudged on into the past to make a difference.

Her daughter…her little daughter had made his job _so _difficult; she had the same stubbornness as her mother. His soldiers had laid traps for her, but she would not be caught. He had forced his militia to keep going because his dream was all he had; waging war was all he knew. He forgot all about Sailor Moon's existence until he laid eyes on her again.

She was younger than he had expected her to be; fourteen to be exact, a year older than he had been when the nightmares came. She was not Neo-Queen Serenity, but she was the next best thing. He wanted her, needed her in any form.

His obsession had kicked in again. Saphir had told him to forget all about her; she had no place in their plans. He had thrown everything aside, all for a chance at prototype Neo-Queen Serenity. His brother had been so sad. He had forgotten his cause.

They all died. Esmeraude killed by Tuxedo Kamen. Rubeus killed by Serenity's daughter.

Oh, yes, Serenity's wayward daughter, the Black Lady. She had been so deadly; so twisted; so desperate for acceptance. He disliked her on the spot. He would have branded her as an outsider and thrown her to his citizens who were hungry for White Moon blood.

But he let her live when Wiseman said that she could be used to get Sailor Moon.

He had been so set on having Serenity that he failed to care about death on Nemesis. His brother's death had shaken him out of his stupor, at least for a little while. Oh, and his death of his brother was his doing. What a blow to the soul, what a blow to soul, he mourned.

The cause of his insanity was all too clear to him now. He was driven insane by his duties to the public and by a woman's unreachable love. Saphir would have said that Wiseman had made him insane, but there was nothing to be made _insane_ when there was nothing _sane_ to begin with. He never meant to keep his promise. He always wanted her, even while he grew up _sane_, thinking that he did not. Everyone had paid for his insane little lie.

His nation was dead. There was nothing to go home to. Wiseman had killed all the citizens when he became the living planet. He only had her, if he could make her _see_. But she rejected him _again_; again and again; through whatever amount of lives and lives. Not anymore, not _anymore_, she will not be around anymore to reject him!

He prayed that his family forgive him. He prayed that his humanity forgive him, even though he was never human to begin with, not in _her _eyes anyway. He was going to take another life, h_er_ life because he loved her.

Before he was killed by Sailor Moon, he remembered Serenity, vibrant in her wedding gown; the flowers in her hair and the stars in her eyes.

* * *

Her doctor made a not-funny joke about the baby not wanting to be born because he was so tucked in. He then had apologized profoundly when she fussed and fretted frantically. Just before she drove herself into a dangerous tizzy, her doctor announced that they now had a bouncing baby boy.

Her husband was there with her, smiling with all the joy in the world. The signs of his emerging old age were barely noticeable in light of the occasion, so deep was his joy. His_ first _child and hopefully he will be the first of _many_.

"He's perfect, isn't he?"

"He has strange hair."

With happiness bubbling in her chest, she kissed her husband. "White is a good color on him."

He chuckled, his dark eyes merry. "I hope he looks more like you. He'll be more flattering that way."

"You're a handsome man. I'm sure he would be proud to look like you."

Their baby was sleeping in her arms, teasing them with his closed eyes. She knew that her son would favor her, but she hoped that he would get something from his father. He was a great man. He was a good cop, loved and respected by most.

The proud father took the infant from her arms. "Demando is your name now. Like Rubeus was your cousin's name when he was born and like Esmeraude was your other cousin's name when she was born."

She winced. Her brother-in-law had chosen to give his son a gemstone name and her niece had gotten the bright idea from him to give her daughter a similar name. A deal was a deal though. She would have picked the name if her baby had been a girl. But, she would have named her son Shinji, a lot simpler that way.

* * *

He woke up at dawn and retched over the edge of his bed. The nightmare had scared him to death. It was not even a scary dream. It was more like a dark fairytale. A prince obsessed over a forbidden queen. A bright and happy kingdom turned into a wasteland after an attack; the queen frozen in sleep. The prince mourned. He did not get to wake the queen up with a kiss. He was killed instead.

The funny thing was that the prince looked a lot like him, despite his age. That was what made him wake up in cold sweat.

He glanced over to his brother. Sleeping like baby.

He wrapped himself in his blanket, sweat still chilling his forehead. It was just a dream. His father would tease him. Imagine! A six-year old scared of a fairytale dream! It was just a dream. It was not real. He smiled, feeling better. There was no chance of his dream becoming reality.


End file.
